Sunday, December 18, 2011

Help, a Llama Yakked in My Tub!!!!

Ok, was playing with my newly built wool picker (see previous post).  I has been given a large white trash bag of raw llama fleece.  I decided to try in picker, but fleece was quite dirty.  So, now for adventure of washing my first fleece.  First I will say that it should not be anywhere as bad as a sheep fleece.  Sheep have lanolin which makes for a greasy mess if not done properly.  Not a problem with goats, alpaca, llamas, etc.  For those of you who have washed and processed fiber, sit back and have a laugh and nod knowingly.  If any of  you, in the peanut gallery, have any suggestions for the next time, PLEASE chime in... lol
One advantage to living in an old plank farm house is the large claw foot tub. We don't use it since we have a separate shower.  It makes a perfect place for these impromptu projects.  So, I ran a tub of warm water with mild shampoo.  Dumped the whole bag and and carefully moved it around with my fingers.  Even the suds were filthy.  Let it sit for while to soak.  Just imagine the smell of your wet dog.  Now magnify this to the size of a wet llama.  Yea.......  


The fur has some debris  in it.  While carefully swishing it around in the water, pulled hay and larger pieces of grass.  Hopefully, any remaining trash will be teased out at the picking stage.  After carefully draining the tub, monitoring the drain as not to plug up the plumbing with fuzz, I ran more rinses, till...


...the water started to appear clearer.  I was lucky in that this fleece only took 4 rinses/soaks.


Kids are laughing at me.  Looks like a llama yakked a giant hair ball in our tub.  I just told them not to make any sudden movements or noises.... It might attack... lol


Now, to let it dry so I can play with the picker. 

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